Trip report
Club Med, Turkoise
Turks & Caicos Islands
Oct. 2000
Getting there and Back:
Our trip was booked through Le Beach Club who were able to
find a very good rate, although it did require somewhat less
than ideal flight schedules. Because of an early departure
from Turkoise, we extended our stay a day and ended up as a
Sun - Monday schedule. The Atlanta to MIA flight departed at
7:15, so it required an early start, followed by a 3+ hour
layover in Miami, which turned into a 4.5 hr layover because
of a delayed inbound aircraft. We did arrive in PLS at about
4:00, which was a little over an hour late. Unfortunately,
another large aircraft (a charter, I believe) had just arrived
in front of us, so the two flights somewhat overwhelmed the
customs people and baggage handling. Considering the large
number of people arriving at one time, the airport people
did a good job and were pleasant (more so than some passengers).
The handling and processing by Club Med was friendly and
competent (the airport GO recognized us from a visit to
Columbus Isle two years ago). This was our second visit to
Turkiose, so we knew our way around. Although this was our
eighth Club Med visit, we attended the Informational Meeting,
but there were no surprises. The return flight left at 8:02 AM,
which required a 5:30 AM baggage drop and we left the village
at 6:10. The aircraft (a very new 737) overnights at PLS, so
the departure was on time. The MIA - ATL flight was about 80
minutes late leaving so we had about a 2.5 hr layover. Our
flights were American Airlines, arranged via Club Med, but
Delta is scheduled to start flying to PLS (from ATL, I believe)
in December, and someone mentioned that TWA is going to start
a PLS route soon, so there should be good schedules and rates
available as competition heats up.
I was somewhat disappointed by American Airlines. Although
I certainly enjoyed the greater legroom (I'm about 6'1", so
legroom is important) only the "first trip of the morning"
flights were on time and the ground staff, especially in Miami,
seemed confused and very poorly organized. In-flight service
and food/beverages were mediocre at best.
The Club:
Turkoise is a "Three Trident", or mid-range club. It has
recently had a minor renovation (paint, minor repairs, and
TV & phones in every room) and was in reasonably good condition.
Rooms are fairly spacious, but a bit sparse of furniture.
AC was efficient, with ceiling fans as an option for the cooler
months. Bath facilities are somewhat basic, but functional.
King beds are two doubles put together with a 'bridge' between
them, so they are not as long as a true king-size bed. It is
located on Grace Bay, a very pretty reef protected bay on the
NW side of the island. The beach runs continuously from about
.75 miles north of the club, for more than 10 miles to the south
and west; very nice for walking. The Allegro resort is about
a 15 minute walk down the beach, and the Beaches resort would
be another 20 minutes beyond that. The Club Med was the first
major resort on the island(built in 1984) and probably has the
best location. I would estimate that the club was about 70-75%
full the week we were there.
While the club was reasonably kept up, there was a definite
lack of attention to detail. Housekeeping was OK, but could
have been better; general cleanliness around the pool area was
a bit lacking until the last day when everything was cleaned up
some, apparently in preparation for the arrival of the incoming
new Chef de Village that night. Major items were being done
(widening the sidewalks) while minor items were left undone.
(The speakers at the classical music shelter stopped working
about our forth day and were never fixed.)
Sports Activities:
Turkoises' claim to fame is really the SCUBA diving, with numerous
very nice sites within an hour boat ride. (We do not dive, so this
is relying on comments from other guests.) There are three dive
boats, but only two seemed to be used, probably because of the
light occupancy at the club. The dive boats are very nice steel
catamarans, about 50' in length and very wide. About the only
complaint about the boats are that they are so large, and can
accommodate so many divers, that some dive locations get a bit
crowded from just the single boat. Snorkeling is also
available, with two trips a day on a dedicated snorkel boat.
They seemed to have about 6 or 8 sights they visited, some
depending on weather and wave action. Many people know about
JoJo the dolphin who frequents Grace Bay. He generally
appears relatively infrequently, and on no recognizable
schedule. On our second snorkel trip, he appeared around the
boat as we were loading up. He stayed there while the captain
backed the boat out to clearer water and many of us got out
to swim with JoJo. We did so for just a few minutes before he
took off after another passing boat. The boat captain said that
was the first time JoJo had been seen in two weeks, and as far
as I know, we was not seen again the rest of the week. We
later spoke to a couple who had come all the way from Japan,
mostly to see JoJo, and they just happened to be on that snorkel
trip..... perhaps JoJo knew they had come to see him.
Although we enjoy snorkeling and beach walking, we really
went there for sailing and windsurfing. The only sailboats
there now are Hobie Waves; catamarans designed for resort use.
They are very easy to sail and very safe, not but as fast or as
much fun as Hobie 16s. The windsurfers are mostly large beginner
boards, with a few 328s and smaller to midsize sails (a 6.5 was
the largest I found). However, the wind was not there while we
were. Most days there was no wind in the morning, and barely
enough to sail at all in the afternoon. When I did go out to
windsurf, I explained to the GOs that I was going to "go hold
the sail up for a while", which is about the way it worked.
On our last day we got some good afternoon winds, probably 15
kts (well, relatively good). The wind was side/on-shore and
worked up quite a chop, so I still couldn't work up planing
speed on the windsurfer, but the Hobies were fun. If you
haven't sailed or windsurfed before, this would be a good
place to try it, if there is enough wind. Lessons are offered
every morning and afternoon, but are rather brief and the GMs
are just turned loose on the boats after the lesson. First
time sailors should probably get a GO to go out with them on
a boat after the lesson. If you ask for help, the GOs are glad
to assist, but you may have to ask. The one real complaint a
about the beach team is that they wanted to close up too early
in the afternoon. They were scheduled to be open from 9:30 AM
to 5:00PM but they seemed to interpret the 5:00 time as when
the boats are all put away, sails folded, and they could leave
the beach. That meant that they wanted all boats on the beach
by 4:30. If you showed up at 4:30 looking for a short ride,
you were out of luck.
The water-skiing dock was under repair so skiers had to swim
out a little to the end of the dock for pick-up. Water-skiing
only ran about 3 or 4 days due to rough water.
This is a Club Med Circus club, and several people we spoke
to said it was a "must do" activity. (We didn't.)
The Food:
As usual with Club Med, the food was plentiful and well
presented. There are both 'mass produced' food and some
specialties prepared by the chefs as you watched. The
specialties were reasonably good, although slightly bland,
but the mass produced food was apparently produced for
non-discriminating American tastes; it was, with few
exceptions, bland and unexciting. The salad, fruit, and
cheese tables were reasonably complete and well supplied.
The bread table was a little of a disappointment; they
only had about 7 different breads, and seemed to focus on
the chocolate breads, for which they are famous. The
selection of other breads was a little lacking. Papayas
were served only twice, and were not completely ripe; mangos
were also served twice, and were nowhere near ripe, a definite
disappointment and a waste of mangos. Friday night was the
"Around the World 50th Anniversary" buffet, and it was done
very nicely, although most food was still somewhat bland in
taste. The Grill restaurant was open Monday - Thursday and
reservations had to be made at noon for the same day.
Actually, you had to be in line prior to 12:00, or you probably
would not make the list. The Grill featured table service at
tables for 2, 4 or 6 and buffet style soup/salad/cheese. Service
was good, although there did seem to be some confusion among the
staff. While there was a choice of two entrees, everyone got the
same appetizer and desert.
In general, we felt there was a lack of attention to quality
food because of the large number of young Americans (especially
New Yorkers) who were more interested in drinking than eating.
Entertainment
Entertainment was typical Club Med. We've seen most of the
shows several times, so didn't bother seeing them again. They
did have a "Comic Tennis" show one evening, which was cute, and
the circus team show was very well done. The focus was definitely
on the young crowd, and the disco was apparently very active at
night (we didn't go in). Pool activities and drinks were
definitely oriented toward the young. We did enjoy watching
some of the activities, especially the "foam party": it was
really amazing... both the foam itself and the way people
immersed themselves in it. Some GMs made the short walk down
the beach to the Allegro to go to the casino there. Anyone
doing this should probably check ahead, since the hours of
operation seemed unpredictable.
General
This is definitely a club heavily influenced by the young
crowd and the charter flights from New York. As mentioned,
we felt the food quality was not quite up to par, largely
because this crowd was not looking for good international style
food. Other than that, the youthful atmosphere didn't really
cause any problems; we were not kept awake by party music or
other noise. Many activities were oriented around the Saturday
charter flight to/from New York and that caused a minor
disruption in schedules, but nothing serious. The large
concentration of people (young and old) from the NE United States
was probably more of an impact, causing a more homogeneous
population than at most clubs. Since we enjoy meeting people
from different countries and backgrounds, we saw this as a
minor disadvantage; others would probably see it as a good thing.
At prior clubs, GOs (normally from the reception area) seated
diners in the dining rooms. They normally did so in an
"intelligent" manner, based on age, probable language, etc.
At Turkoise this time, local employees had the task of seating
the GMs and they generally seem to do so in the manner that
most efficiently filled the tables. My wife and I enjoy sitting
with people from different countries but on several occasions
we were poorly seated, such as when we were put at a table with
5 young men just arrived from New York. While they were very
pleasant, they were obviously a bit uncomfortable (we are
over 50) and on good behavior with my wife there. I'd like to
cast my vote for returning to GO seating.
Much of the above is subject to change because a new
Chef de Village arrived just before we left. The character of
a village is strongly influenced by the Chef de Village so
Turkoise may be changing over the next few months. Jean Marc
(the outgoing CdV) seemed friendly and personable; I did not
hear the name of the new CdV.